


Discordant Melody

by killerstylebaby



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, F/M, One-Shot, clair de lune is probably best, fair warning, i wrote this so early in the morning im sorry, just so no one thinks any plagiarism is going on, major spoilers for ch1, or smth from the game like heartless journey idk, shuichi x kaede, this fic is read better with a melancholy background tune, this is also something i posted on my blog shsl_killing_writer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 18:36:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15516063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerstylebaby/pseuds/killerstylebaby
Summary: After Shuichi's love interest Kaede Akamatsu is brutally executed for the murder of fellow classmate Rantaro Amami, he is left alone to grieve for the girl that he loved - even if it had only been for a few days.How will he cope with the loss of the one he felt closest to in a brutal, despair-inducing killing game?





	Discordant Melody

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I wrote this fic prior to actually playing/watching NDRV3, so it may be slightly canon divergent...and, uh, I'm sorry for the pain I'm about to cause...?

Shuichi Saihara never thought the sound of piano keys would haunt him.

He hadn’t slept in days…he thought. He wasn’t quite sure. All he knew is he was tired, and raw, and it just wouldn’t stop. Der Flohwalzer. The Flea Waltz. The melody just never ended, an agonising loop in Shuichi’s mind - and he didn’t know how much he could take. It hurt. Every new note was like a knife digging into him, twisting and scraping beneath his skin.

All he could see in his mind was her. His poor Kaede. His poor Kaede, a metal clasp around her neck being dragged away. His poor Kaede, hanging and slowly choking over the piano she loved so much. His poor Kaede, almost dead before the lid slammed shut on her, cruelly snuffing out all the life she had left. His poor Kaede, dead. It wasn’t fair. She hadn’t deserved it, Shuichi thought, even if she had killed someone.

He still couldn’t quite believe it. It was hard to believe that someone as genuinely sweet and kind as Kaede Akamatsu could kill someone, but there could be no denying the truth, right…? Suddenly Shuichi felt like he understood Kokichi’s hate for the truth a little better. Right then, the truth only brought bitter, bitter pain. He didn’t want to accept the truth; he didn’t want to accept that the girl he had come to feel such a deep, empathetic connection to, the girl that he had fallen in love with…was gone. His poor, poor Kaede.

Shuichi slowly raised himself off the bed he had been wallowing in for God-knows-how-many-days and walked to the other side of the room, stretching a little. Although he was hurting, he knew that withdrawing from reality and grieving forever wasn’t healthy. He didn’t want to get up, of course. Each time he felt something other than pure grief, it felt like he was betraying her memory. Deep down he knew Kaede wouldn’t want him to cry and mourn forever, but he just couldn’t help it. His soul carried such a sinking, despairful feeling when he remembered the way he’d never get to see her sweet smile, or beautiful warm purple eyes ever again.

Somehow, he eventually convinced himself to leave his room. He wandered along the hallways like a lost spirit trying to complete some unfinished business it had long forgotten about; a lost sense of purpose and hollow emptiness inside. He didn’t have a destination as he wandered, but somehow he knew where he’d end up. He always ended up there. Her piano. Whenever he felt a pang of loneliness, he had always found himself seeking company beside her piano with the knowledge that she would usually be there. No more. The piano seat was empty and already gathering dust, something that made Shuichi’s heart feel like it was being torn in two.

He walked up to the piano, ghosting his fingers over the keys. It almost felt alien to him now Kaede wasn’t there. Despite the fact that she had attempted to teach him some piano, Shuichi was still far from confident in his abilities. Nonetheless, he felt like he was under some obligation to her to prevent the instrument from gathering dust so, brushing down the seat and sitting down, he tentatively placed a couple of fingers down on the keys. The sound the piano emitted from the touch was discordant and not pleasant to hear, but Shuichi wasn’t sure whether that was because of the keys he hit or because it just because it felt wrong that he was the one touching this piano, not Kaede.

Slowly but surely, he moved his fingers over the keys. He found a C, and then an E, an A then a D. A gradual rhythm built beneath his hand, becoming something somewhat resembling a melody. He poured all his emotion, his grief, his pain into his performance. He knew he’d never be as good as her, but that’s okay; he didn’t want to be. He never wanted to become the next SHSL pianist. He just wanted to honour her memory, and not let her passion die.

Shuichi’s eyes started to close as he played, breathing steadily in and out in time with his fingers hitting the keys. He allowed the sound to engulf him and let his soul wander with the song. Nevertheless, despite this newfound freedom, his heart still felt weighted. He couldn’t completely let go knowing she wasn’t there. As his fingers continued to glide, he slowly opened his eyes once again.

“Thank you, Shuichi…”   
His head jerked up, the melody coming to an abrupt halt. That voice. That soft, kind voice.   
“Kaede!?”   
There she was. Shuichi couldn’t quite believe his eyes: there before him, almost as if she had never died, was Kaede. Her illuminating blonde hair, her soft purple eyes, and her gentle smile. She didn’t look hurt, either. She seemed…content. At peace. Definitely not like someone who had recently been executed in such a brutal fashion.

“You’re really getting better, you know, Shuichi…have you been practicing?”   
He was speechless. Kaede Akamatsu, his close friend and romantic interest whom he witnessed dying, stood right before him. He didn’t understand how it was possible - a hallucination, he supposed; it could hardly be called unexpected under the circumstances. After all, Shuichi’s mental health was…far from ideal.

“Aw, come on now…don’t be like that, Shuichi. I’ve missed you.”   
“…Kaede…”   
The name came out of Shuichi’s mouth like a cry from a wounded animal. It made his mouth go dry and his eyes water as he said it.   
“Ah, you took off the hat…? It feels unusual seeing you without it. I didn’t know you were hiding an ahoge under there, Saihara-!”   
Kaede voice sounded so cheery as she made the observation, smiling at Shuichi as if nothing had ever happened.   
“Kaede, I don’t understand. How is this happening? Are you…real?”   
He dared not to hope, his voice quivering as he questioned her. In response, she simply smiled.   
“Does it really matter? The fact is, for you, right here, I am here.”

Shuichi closed his eyes, sighing softly. Of course. Of course she wasn’t real. Kaede was dead, and the dead don’t come back. All the same…  
“I’m…so sorry, Kaede…I couldn’t save you…”   
“Shuichi…it’s okay. I’m the one who should be sorry. I betrayed you all, and I killed poor Rantaro when he hadn’t even done anything wrong…but…that isn’t why I’m here.”   
Her voice lost a little of its bounce, and she maintained an intense but somehow reassuring eye contact with Saihara as she spoke.   
“I’m here because you need me. I told you I would be, didn’t I? I don’t intend to break that promise just because I’m dead.”

Shuichi’s stomach dropped a little as she spoke the words “I’m dead” with such little gravity. How could she be so casual about something so grave? Kaede’s death had been haunting Shuichi ever since he saw her execution. But hearing her speak the words herself, he was once again forced to face the reality of the situation - and God, it hurt.   
“…Kaede…”  
Her name was the only thing he could utter.   
“Shuichi. I’m sorry, I can’t stay forever, but…I kept my promise. So…can you promise me something? Please?”

Guilt rolled in like a wave in his stomach as she spoke the words, but Saihara couldn’t bring himself to deny his love’s last wish.  
“Anything…”   
Kaede held her head for a moment as if in deep thought, but then returned back to him with the same startling intensity he had seen earlier.   
“Please don’t lose hope now. There’s still plenty of people left here who need your help. Even people you wouldn’t expect. And I won’t forgive you if you abandon them now, so…don’t give up! Despair is temporary, Shuichi. You have to keep searching for the truth even it seems hopeless, because in the end there will always be despair - but equally, where there is despair, there will be hope. Hold onto hope, and trust in your friends. That’s the best way to get out of here, I think. So…promise me?”

Shuichi couldn’t help himself. As Kaede spoke such beautiful, optimistic words, he couldn’t help but let his tears fall. She should have been there to tell him this in person. It shouldn’t have been like this. But still, he owed it to her.   
“I will. I promise, Kaede…”   
She closed her eyes, a kind smile on her face and reached out ever so slightly towards Saihara, before pulling herself back.   
“Thank you, Shuichi. I really appreciate it; I knew I could rely on you.”

Saihara couldn’t stop the tears from falling then, sniffling desperately as Kaede continued to smile at him in such a sweet fashion. He reaches out himself, going to touch her arm. Alas, before he could reach her, she was gone again, and Shuichi was alone once again with his grief and tears. His voice wobbles as he spoke one more time.  
“Goodbye, sweetheart…I…still love you…”

“That’s all I ever wanted to hear…”


End file.
